Pary's Token Penny

The above item is a Pary's token penny which was
commissioned by Thomas Williams for use by his Pary's Mine Company
of Anglesey due to there being a shortage of small coinage at the
time. The copper token penny bears the image of a druids head, circled
with a wreath of what appears to be oak leaves. The reverse bears
the letters PMCo and is circled by the following text: "We promise
to pay the bearer One Penny".

The above token is dated 1787 and would have been
accepted in a variety of places which probably included parts of Swansea,
one of the destinations for the company's copper ore. Pary's copper
mine at Anglesey was at one time the largest in Europe. Pary's were
not the only company who produced their own coinage at the time but
it is believed that they were among the first. Between 1787 and 1792
it is estimated that over 300 tons of token coins were produced by
Pary's own mint in Birmingham and other mints in London.

An article written by D. Neville Patchett for the
Amman Valley Historical Society tells how his father Edwin Patchett,
as a young boy, found a Pary's Token Penny on the higher reaches of
Grenig Road, Glanamman. The old drovers road connected Llandeilo and
Llandyfan with Swansea and Neath via the Amman Valley.

It is believed that the image of the Druids head
was taken from a historical publication by Henry Rowlands titled "Mona
Antiqua Restaurata", which focused on Anglesey, which of course
was the last stronghold of the Celtic Druids.

The tokens were re-collected in 1797 when the crown
commissioned the issue of the first copper pennies (Cartwheel Penny).
Pary's tokens were however still accepted in parts of North Wales
until the early 19th Century.

Information for this page was taken from the Wikipedia
Website and from "A Lucky find on the Betws Mountain", by
D. Neville Patchett for the Amman Valley Historical Society.